19 July 2011

Organising Craft Space - Part 2

For all my current disorganisation, I actually do have a desire to be organised. I recently found myself sorting all my pins by colour, and back into their original containers, strange but true.

Let me give you a visual on my craft space: we have recently claimed a childs bedroom and converted it into an office / craft room / spare room (complete with futon, 2 x printers, a scanner, a shredder, 2 x computers, 5 x 5 Ikea book case and 2 sewing machines). The floor space is limited as we have failed to sort and file as we have moved into the room, so clutter abounds. I am really starting from a place of desperation as the room is not conducive to work or craft. Here is how I approached the organising of this space:

1. Checked to see when the local council is having a clean up day (this weekend - lucky!) and I have committed to "cleansing the house" of those items I know I will never use.

5. Gathered together any plastic see-through (preferably double sided) bags in readiness for preparing dedicated project bags. I hoard commercial manchester or pillow bags. A recent purchase for our dog came in one such bag, in a very handy size too.

6. Got realistic about how the space will be used i.e. my space is a shared space so everything does need to be put-away-able. I also like to do my craft in the living room so I'm still surrounded by the family which means I need well organised project bags and I need 1 bag always packed with all the essentials which can be used for retreats, going to my quilting group or simply joining the family. Carolyn Woods has a section in her book "Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter" covering what to pack for retreats and quilting in small spaces.

7. Set a time limit for having the space organised.

In summary, before you start 'doing', there may well be some 'strategic thinking' required to ensure your efforts are executed in an efficient manner.